Schools stopped teaching any grammatical system some time ago, as they probably should have. But the schools also, at the same time, stopped teaching grammatical terminology, a mistake which has had lasting consequences. Students need to be told what "infinitive,""preposition,""case," and "predicate complement" mean. They need the tools to think about and analyze their sentences. This paper argues that students should have a vocabulary for discussing language. The paper contends that if students know the meanings of grammatical terms and phrases and have practiced identifying the concepts, they will then be able to recognize the structures in their writing, and educators will enable them to improve their work. The paper outlines the problem, considers why the problem arose, discusses traditional grammar (1675-1950s) and descriptive linguistics (1950s and 1960s), and suggests what is to be done now. (Author/NKA)

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